The annual Icelandic Music Awards were held in Reykjavík last Saturday. Pop musician Bríet, who received seven nominations, took home three awards in the categories Pop Album of the Year, Lyricist of the Year, and Female Singer of the Year. Female artists won in six out of the nine Best Album genre categories.
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, nominees were invited to attend the presentation of the awards in small groups. The presentations were pre-recorded shortly before the ceremony was broadcast on Saturday evening. The broadcast did feature five live performances by nominees, however, including Best Jazz Album winner Ingibjörg Turchi and crowd favourite GusGus.
Read More: Bríet at the 2018 Iceland Airwaves Festival
Sigur Rós received this year’s Honourary Award for their contribution to Icelandic music over the past 17 years (the band was established in 1994). Unsurprisingly, Iceland’s Eurovision representative Daði Freyr won Best Pop Song for last year’s viral hit Think About Things.
A playlist featuring all of this year’s nominees is available on Spotify. The full list of winners is below.
2021 Icelandic Music Awards Winners
Pop, Rock, Rap, Hip Hop, and Electronic Music
POP – BEST ALBUM
Kveðja, Bríet – BRÍET
ROCK – BEST ALBUM
Endless Twilight of Codependent Love – Sólstafir
RAP & HIP HOP – BEST ALBUM
VACATION – CYBER
ELECTRONIC MUSIC – BEST ALBUM
Visions of Ultraflex – Ultraflex
POP – BEST SONG
Think About Things – Daði Freyr
ROCK – BEST SONG
Haf trú – HAM
RAP & HIP HOP – BEST SONG
Geimvera – JóiPé x Króli
ELECTRONIC MUSIC – BEST SONG
Think Too Fast – JFDR
BEST MUSICAL EVENT
Heima með Helga
BEST LYRICIST
Bríet Ísis Elfar
BEST SONGWRITER
Hjaltalín
BEST MALE SINGER
Högni Egilsson
BEST FEMALE SINGER
Bríet Ísis Elfar
BEST PERFORMER
Bubbi Morthens
BEST MUSIC VIDEO (awarded in collaboration with albumm.is)
Sumarið sem aldrei kom – Jónsi. Leikstjórn: Frosti Jón Runólfsson
BRIGHTEST HOPE (emerging artist awarded in collaboration with Rás 2)
Gugusar
CLASSICAL AND CONTEMPORARY MUSIC
BEST ALBUM
John Speight, Solo Piano Works – Peter Máté
BEST COMPOSITION
Accordion Concerto – Finnur Karlsson
BEST FESTIVAL
Sönghátíð í Hafnarborg
BEST CONCERT
Brák og Bach
BEST FEMALE SINGER
Álfheiður Erla Guðmundsdóttir
BEST MALE SINGER
Stuart Skelton
BEST SOLO PERFORMER
Víkingur Heiðar Ólafsson
BEST GROUP PERFORMER
Icelandic Symphony Orchestra
EMERGING CLASSICAL ARTIST
Steiney Sigurðardóttir (cellist)
JAZZ AND BLUES
BEST ALBUM
Meliae – Ingibjörg Turchi
BEST ORIGINAL COMPOSITION
Four Elements – Haukur Gröndal
BEST SONGWRITER
Sigurður Flosason
BEST SOLO PERFORMER
Haukur Gröndal
BEST GROUP PERFORMER
Frelsissveit Íslands
BEST MUSICAL EVENT
Reykjavík Jazz Festival
BRIGHTEST HOPE (emerging artist award)
Laufey Lín Jónsdóttir
OTHER MUSIC: OPEN CATEGORY, FOLK AND WORLD MUSIC, MUSIC FOR FILM AND THEATRE
BEST ALBUM – MUSIC FOR FILM AND THEATRE
Defending Jacob – Atli Örvarsson & Ólafur Arnalds
BEST ALBUM – FOLK AND WORLD MUSIC
Shelters one – Jelena Ciric
BEST ALBUM – OPEN CATEGORY
EPICYCLE II – Gyða Valtýsdóttir
BEST SONG/COMPOSITION – OPEN CATEGORY
Astronaut – Red Barnett
BEST ALBUM ARTWORK
PLASTPRINSESSAN – K.óla:
Kata Jóhanness, Katrín Helga Ólafsdóttir, Ása Bríet Brattaberg, Arína Vala Þórðardóttir, Ída Arínudóttir, Elvar S. Júlíusson
BEST PRODUCTION
Meliae – Ingibjörg Turchi:
Sound engineer: Birgir Jón Birgisson, mixing and mastering: Ívar Ragnarsson
